When I play battlegrounds I usually have good tempo and an above average board, but when it comes to the mid game I am completely lost. Most of the time I stay on 3 for a bit to stat up, then go to 4, and rush to 5 as soon as I am able. I have heard players say that Brann can be a win condition, but once i buy him I don't really do anything with him. He seems to require a hyperscaling minion like Glyph Guardian, Bronze Warden, Deflect-O-Bot or Hydra. I don't really see a world where you can buy Brann, have him potentially do nothing for a few turns, while you spent all gold looking for something to buff. Am I missing something?
I know that Brann + Holy Mackerel is a winning combo, but I almost never last long enough to reach that point, unless I get some lucky discovers.
I know every game is different, and what works will vary greatly depending on board state, but if there are some general tips that you may be able to share to get me through the mid game it would be greatly appreciated.
You can't always transition into the late game and you will often want to go for something solid rather than something that will get you into first place. Mid-game builds that can easily transition into the late game are: Deathrattle beasts (add mama bears and/or the wolf that buffs beast + Barron, Barron with death rattles (try to get a golden barron and tier 5 and 6 death rattles), Murlocs with bran, Any dragon build (I think the tier 5 and six stuff you go for are pretty obvious).
With Shudderwok can go for pogo late game.
Otherwise, you might want to simply build huge cleave minions, keep buffing your mechs/demons, make a huge Annihilian Battle master, or get some divine shield minions and Holy Mackerels.
Also: Don't rush to tier five unless it makes sense. You can rush to tier five: if you are very far ahead of everyone else, if you can make a golden minion that turn and then get a tier six minion, if you are Alexstraza and you have a bunch of Dragons, if you are fighting someone who you will probably beat (they either lost their last couple of games by large margins or they already lost the game)
Personally, I think the previous post broke it down pretty well...
First of all: I'm not the greatest player myself (or at least not the most competitive) with only a rating of 6.3k right now, partly because I like to do bonkers stuff late game, and for that I tend to play pretty risky (like leveling up my tavern early or trying to get lucky on shifter zerus).
This is probably kinda reflected in my stats as a lot of my top 4's are in 1st place :P
You can't always transition into the late game and you will often want to go for something solid rather than something that will get you into first place. Mid-game builds that can easily transition into the late game are: Deathrattle beasts (add mama bears and/or the wolf that buffs beast + Barron, Barron with death rattles (try to get a golden barron and tier 5 and 6 death rattles), Murlocs with bran, Any dragon build (I think the tier 5 and six stuff you go for are pretty obvious).
With Shudderwok can go for pogo late game.
Otherwise, you might want to simply build huge cleave minions, keep buffing your mechs/demons, make a huge Annihilian Battle master, or get some divine shield minions and Holy Mackerels.
Also: Don't rush to tier five unless it makes sense. You can rush to tier five: if you are very far ahead of everyone else, if you can make a golden minion that turn and then get a tier six minion, if you are Alexstraza and you have a bunch of Dragons, if you are fighting someone who you will probably beat (they either lost their last couple of games by large margins or they already lost the game)
I think he named most of the viable late game strategies (though (deathrattle)-mechs and juggler-demons are also viable late game. you generally want to put strong minions in that are at least potentially strong enough to carry you late game...
Early minions that make me want to make a certain build are for example:
Tier 3: Soul Juggler: just get a shitload of demons that summon more demons and you're happy; also taunt demons can be nice :) That being said, I see a lot of players trying to force soul weavers which I personally don't really like anymore in the current state of battlegrounds. depends on the situation ofc, but in general I'd say you're better off ignoring them. Deflect-o-Bot holds his own early game and later on you can buff it potentially up with lightfang/brann/iron sensei and use it in a divineshield/deathrattle mech build
Tier 4: Cave Hydra (Deathrattle beasts: (key cards you want to look for are: Mama Bear, Baron riverdale, Goldrin, The Great wolf & Ghastcoiler/Rat Pack) or you can go for a Lightfang Enforcer or Brann Bronzebeard and just try to make a big cleave. Drakonid Enforcer, very strong minion and for me this guy will often be one of the key pieces I'll want in my dragon builds... you don't need a dragon build to make it work tho as it will still be pretty strong even when you just have some random divine shield mechs or murlocs.
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After doing my research I found out that the pink 'stuff' that appeared onto hearthstone cards must, in fact, have been coronavirus. It has through hearthstone spread across the globe and infected all computers. And because too few people played hearthstone with plastic gloves on they got infected through their computer. Thus coronavirus is Hearthstone's fault and I expect a total of 3 packs from each expansion to be given to all coronavirus victims.
Hey, from the little experience I gathered I'll try to write something.
First of all, a landmark I find very useful: in the 9 coins turn you should aim to be tavern 4 with full board. If you're ahead you can do it in the 8 coins turn, but generally you should be aware, if you have 10 coins and still tavern 3 you are already late, you generally won't get first place, you probably should just try to survive and aim for top 4. Again this is a generic landmark, it may be different for different heroes/strategies.
So let's say you went though the early game decently, your hp are not too low and you have a decent bunch of stuff in play. In the 9 coins turn you level up and buy a minion. Now you can roll looking for triples so you can discover a tavern 5 minion, which can often define the direction your build will take, for instance baron or lightfang... And of course try to level up to 5 asap if you can afford to.
As you say about brann, in the early-midgame its a luxury pick. It's always tempting when you see it, but you always need to consider your position in the game. You can't usually pick him in the mid game or you will quickly fall behind, unless you have an immediate benefit: for instance as you said , if you already have good minions to buff like hydra or bronze warden, and you know you can immediately buff them. Otherwise, yes, brann can be a win condition, let's say if you are ahead but you see others are going to outscale you: then you might want to lose tempo and give up improving you board, and buy stuff like brann and look for another direction depending on what others have. but that's some advanced stuff xd
I had something else in mind but I forgot :D
You can also check some pro player videos, I like firebat and dog videos a lot, they are very instructive
I'm rather mediocre Battlegrounds player (6k rank atm), but in my experience, the most important thing in mid game, is... RNG. Middle part of the match is the key moment, when specific builds starts to appear, and If RNG is kind to your enemies and harsh for you (high rolls vs low rolls), you will most likely be swept away (well, unless you're a Deathwing and you can steal some wins with otherwise crappy rat or Millhouse and you can overwhelm your enemies with flood of mid-power minions). Yes, you can try to keep up, using whatever game offers to you, but one or two fancy T3 or T4 minions, without synergies with the rest of your board, won't beat high stats and consistancy (especially, when the game pairs you with top players in the match).
If you can make it to late game though, it should be easier from there.
Learning to transition into the late game is probably the most difficult thing in BG and something that I’m struggling with. I am slowly learning to not get too attached to any minions, even the ones that won me rounds in the early to mid game. There comes a point where you have to be ready to ditch everything in order to transition well. I have yet to pull off the Reno golden Bran one turn transition to full murlocks with double mackerels and sometimes my board is just a complete mess by the time i die but I’m slowly improving. Sometimes it’s hard to ditch a 22/22 Hangry or Wrathweaver but it has to be done.
in the current meta it seems like Baron is the safest strat as it’s the most forgiving. Much like Kobold was before they removed it. A golden Baron is almost always a win or second at the very least. Goldrin and Hydras are super pog with Baron but you need a bit more synergy than that.
what I’m trying to do is learn what my outs are in any given situation and how to spot when it’s time to ditch say demons or whatever and go full beast or dragons. Unless you get an early Razorgore and Kaly I don’t think dragons are very good. Menagerie seems super weak right now, you really feel the one less from from Lightfang. I have been avoiding mechs because they used to be my default and i want to learn new builds.
also, lately it seems like Bran isn’t an auto pick anymore. I’m finding buffs hard to come by consistently...
edit: also it’s important to know how and when to level up. It isn’t always the standard level 2 on turn 2, 3 on 7 gold, 4 on 9 gold. If I have a good early game I can sometimes level to 4 on 8 gold and that works very well. Sometimes it’s best to stay on 4 and get a bit stronger before racing to 5. And watch for when your opponents level, especially the guy you’re about to face next. If they level you can probably level as well and not risk taking too much damage.
A lot of good points have been made so far, and I would like to add only one thing.
I think the most important quality of a Battleground player is flexibility. I used to stick with minions that I should have sold a few turns ago because they had some stats, or, like someone said already, because I was attached to my buffed Righteous Protector that won me a few rounds early. There are so many variables in the game (Your hero, the other heroes, roll RNG, battle RNG, etc.) that you can't play every game the same. It means that sometimes, for example, you'll have to sell your Brann or your Lightfang for an Unstable Ghoul in the final stages because your opponent has a Divine Shield build. Some plays may seem counter intuitive, but they still are the right plays.
Then, when it comes to late game, like TheNameForgotten said, it's whether you want/have a 4th place or 1st place build. If you want a 1st place build, one word: scalability. The only way to finish 1st place is to have a build that snowballs, like Murlocs with Brann, Beasts with Riverdare, Menagerie if you get a Lightfang early enough, etc. Otherwise, you aim at 4th place, and hey, it's still a win!
Murlocs - Bran enables murlocs and they are still about the strongest build in the game once they start to snowball. It's also possible to run him a menagerie, but if I roll an early bran or tripple into him I will nearly always try to pivot towards murlocs. Just as important is to recognise when its too late for him and to ignore and stick with what you got.
This same principle can apply to other game winning cards like Cave Hydra - and early one will carry you to first place, but get it too late and try and slot it it you might miss out on 4th because of that.
Thanks everyone for answering. Lost 1200 rating the last 3 days, really rough!
Happens to a lot of people, don't worry! Maybe it's just bad luck, it is possible. But it's good if you look for improvement.
You also should observe how you are playing your early game. Maybe you are staying on 3for too long? I used to do this mistake. I was trying to force a build in the early game itself, for instance dragons because I liked it, just because I had a couple of T2 or T3 pieces. What you buy in the early game is not that important. Its purpose is just to survive through the early game. Be ready to sell everything when the game offers you some key pieces which allow a late game plan. Don't try to force any particular build, especially not too early in the game!
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When I play battlegrounds I usually have good tempo and an above average board, but when it comes to the mid game I am completely lost. Most of the time I stay on 3 for a bit to stat up, then go to 4, and rush to 5 as soon as I am able. I have heard players say that Brann can be a win condition, but once i buy him I don't really do anything with him. He seems to require a hyperscaling minion like Glyph Guardian, Bronze Warden, Deflect-O-Bot or Hydra. I don't really see a world where you can buy Brann, have him potentially do nothing for a few turns, while you spent all gold looking for something to buff. Am I missing something?
I know that Brann + Holy Mackerel is a winning combo, but I almost never last long enough to reach that point, unless I get some lucky discovers.
I know every game is different, and what works will vary greatly depending on board state, but if there are some general tips that you may be able to share to get me through the mid game it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
ElleTey
You can't always transition into the late game and you will often want to go for something solid rather than something that will get you into first place. Mid-game builds that can easily transition into the late game are: Deathrattle beasts (add mama bears and/or the wolf that buffs beast + Barron, Barron with death rattles (try to get a golden barron and tier 5 and 6 death rattles), Murlocs with bran, Any dragon build (I think the tier 5 and six stuff you go for are pretty obvious).
With Shudderwok can go for pogo late game.
Otherwise, you might want to simply build huge cleave minions, keep buffing your mechs/demons, make a huge Annihilian Battle master, or get some divine shield minions and Holy Mackerels.
Also: Don't rush to tier five unless it makes sense. You can rush to tier five: if you are very far ahead of everyone else, if you can make a golden minion that turn and then get a tier six minion, if you are Alexstraza and you have a bunch of Dragons, if you are fighting someone who you will probably beat (they either lost their last couple of games by large margins or they already lost the game)
Personally, I think the previous post broke it down pretty well...
First of all: I'm not the greatest player myself (or at least not the most competitive) with only a rating of 6.3k right now, partly because I like to do bonkers stuff late game, and for that I tend to play pretty risky (like leveling up my tavern early or trying to get lucky on shifter zerus).
This is probably kinda reflected in my stats as a lot of my top 4's are in 1st place :P
I think he named most of the viable late game strategies (though (deathrattle)-mechs and juggler-demons are also viable late game. you generally want to put strong minions in that are at least potentially strong enough to carry you late game...
Early minions that make me want to make a certain build are for example:
Tier 3:
Soul Juggler: just get a shitload of demons that summon more demons and you're happy; also taunt demons can be nice :) That being said, I see a lot of players trying to force soul weavers which I personally don't really like anymore in the current state of battlegrounds. depends on the situation ofc, but in general I'd say you're better off ignoring them.
Deflect-o-Bot holds his own early game and later on you can buff it potentially up with lightfang/brann/iron sensei and use it in a divineshield/deathrattle mech build
Tier 4:
Cave Hydra (Deathrattle beasts: (key cards you want to look for are: Mama Bear, Baron riverdale, Goldrin, The Great wolf & Ghastcoiler/Rat Pack) or you can go for a Lightfang Enforcer or Brann Bronzebeard and just try to make a big cleave.
Drakonid Enforcer, very strong minion and for me this guy will often be one of the key pieces I'll want in my dragon builds... you don't need a dragon build to make it work tho as it will still be pretty strong even when you just have some random divine shield mechs or murlocs.
After doing my research I found out that the pink 'stuff' that appeared onto hearthstone cards must, in fact, have been coronavirus.
It has through hearthstone spread across the globe and infected all computers. And because too few people played hearthstone with plastic gloves on they got infected through their computer. Thus coronavirus is Hearthstone's fault and I expect a total of 3 packs from each expansion to be given to all coronavirus victims.
This is the only truth.
jk ofc.
Hey, from the little experience I gathered I'll try to write something.
First of all, a landmark I find very useful: in the 9 coins turn you should aim to be tavern 4 with full board. If you're ahead you can do it in the 8 coins turn, but generally you should be aware, if you have 10 coins and still tavern 3 you are already late, you generally won't get first place, you probably should just try to survive and aim for top 4. Again this is a generic landmark, it may be different for different heroes/strategies.
So let's say you went though the early game decently, your hp are not too low and you have a decent bunch of stuff in play. In the 9 coins turn you level up and buy a minion. Now you can roll looking for triples so you can discover a tavern 5 minion, which can often define the direction your build will take, for instance baron or lightfang... And of course try to level up to 5 asap if you can afford to.
As you say about brann, in the early-midgame its a luxury pick. It's always tempting when you see it, but you always need to consider your position in the game. You can't usually pick him in the mid game or you will quickly fall behind, unless you have an immediate benefit: for instance as you said , if you already have good minions to buff like hydra or bronze warden, and you know you can immediately buff them. Otherwise, yes, brann can be a win condition, let's say if you are ahead but you see others are going to outscale you: then you might want to lose tempo and give up improving you board, and buy stuff like brann and look for another direction depending on what others have. but that's some advanced stuff xd
I had something else in mind but I forgot :D
You can also check some pro player videos, I like firebat and dog videos a lot, they are very instructive
I'm rather mediocre Battlegrounds player (6k rank atm), but in my experience, the most important thing in mid game, is... RNG. Middle part of the match is the key moment, when specific builds starts to appear, and If RNG is kind to your enemies and harsh for you (high rolls vs low rolls), you will most likely be swept away (well, unless you're a Deathwing and you can steal some wins with otherwise crappy rat or Millhouse and you can overwhelm your enemies with flood of mid-power minions). Yes, you can try to keep up, using whatever game offers to you, but one or two fancy T3 or T4 minions, without synergies with the rest of your board, won't beat high stats and consistancy (especially, when the game pairs you with top players in the match).
If you can make it to late game though, it should be easier from there.
Learning to transition into the late game is probably the most difficult thing in BG and something that I’m struggling with. I am slowly learning to not get too attached to any minions, even the ones that won me rounds in the early to mid game. There comes a point where you have to be ready to ditch everything in order to transition well. I have yet to pull off the Reno golden Bran one turn transition to full murlocks with double mackerels and sometimes my board is just a complete mess by the time i die but I’m slowly improving. Sometimes it’s hard to ditch a 22/22 Hangry or Wrathweaver but it has to be done.
in the current meta it seems like Baron is the safest strat as it’s the most forgiving. Much like Kobold was before they removed it. A golden Baron is almost always a win or second at the very least. Goldrin and Hydras are super pog with Baron but you need a bit more synergy than that.
what I’m trying to do is learn what my outs are in any given situation and how to spot when it’s time to ditch say demons or whatever and go full beast or dragons. Unless you get an early Razorgore and Kaly I don’t think dragons are very good. Menagerie seems super weak right now, you really feel the one less from from Lightfang. I have been avoiding mechs because they used to be my default and i want to learn new builds.
also, lately it seems like Bran isn’t an auto pick anymore. I’m finding buffs hard to come by consistently...
edit: also it’s important to know how and when to level up. It isn’t always the standard level 2 on turn 2, 3 on 7 gold, 4 on 9 gold. If I have a good early game I can sometimes level to 4 on 8 gold and that works very well. Sometimes it’s best to stay on 4 and get a bit stronger before racing to 5. And watch for when your opponents level, especially the guy you’re about to face next. If they level you can probably level as well and not risk taking too much damage.
Missing lethal since June 2015.
A lot of good points have been made so far, and I would like to add only one thing.
I think the most important quality of a Battleground player is flexibility. I used to stick with minions that I should have sold a few turns ago because they had some stats, or, like someone said already, because I was attached to my buffed Righteous Protector that won me a few rounds early. There are so many variables in the game (Your hero, the other heroes, roll RNG, battle RNG, etc.) that you can't play every game the same. It means that sometimes, for example, you'll have to sell your Brann or your Lightfang for an Unstable Ghoul in the final stages because your opponent has a Divine Shield build. Some plays may seem counter intuitive, but they still are the right plays.
Then, when it comes to late game, like TheNameForgotten said, it's whether you want/have a 4th place or 1st place build. If you want a 1st place build, one word: scalability. The only way to finish 1st place is to have a build that snowballs, like Murlocs with Brann, Beasts with Riverdare, Menagerie if you get a Lightfang early enough, etc. Otherwise, you aim at 4th place, and hey, it's still a win!
Murlocs - Bran enables murlocs and they are still about the strongest build in the game once they start to snowball. It's also possible to run him a menagerie, but if I roll an early bran or tripple into him I will nearly always try to pivot towards murlocs. Just as important is to recognise when its too late for him and to ignore and stick with what you got.
This same principle can apply to other game winning cards like Cave Hydra - and early one will carry you to first place, but get it too late and try and slot it it you might miss out on 4th because of that.
Thanks everyone for answering. Lost 1200 rating the last 3 days, really rough!
Happens to a lot of people, don't worry! Maybe it's just bad luck, it is possible. But it's good if you look for improvement.
You also should observe how you are playing your early game. Maybe you are staying on 3for too long? I used to do this mistake. I was trying to force a build in the early game itself, for instance dragons because I liked it, just because I had a couple of T2 or T3 pieces. What you buy in the early game is not that important. Its purpose is just to survive through the early game. Be ready to sell everything when the game offers you some key pieces which allow a late game plan. Don't try to force any particular build, especially not too early in the game!